


They Sing Your Heart's Desire

by bcbdrums



Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Airplane Crashes, Blood, Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Crash Landing, Drowning, Everyone Is Alive, F/M, Friendship, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hurricanes & Typhoons, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, MerMay, Mild Blood, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Ocean, Pre-Relationship, Shipwrecks, Sirens, Tags Are Hard, There's no tag for a hover car crash, lost at sea, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24382162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bcbdrums/pseuds/bcbdrums
Summary: "Shego what is that?" Drakken asked"The lair," she said. "See? We're almost there.""No it's not! The lair is over there!"He pointed off to the right where Shego had pointed before. She wiped the rain from her eyes and squinted into the darkness. When lightning flashed again she saw the familiar and still very distant silhouette."What is that? We're going to crash! Shego!"
Relationships: Dr. Drakken & Shego (Kim Possible), Dr. Drakken/Shego (Kim Possible)
Kudos: 17





	They Sing Your Heart's Desire

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Answering a Tumblr prompt, and hopping on the "MerMay" bandwagon. Prompt was: hurricane. 
> 
> A Drakgo fic.

Shego tossed her head to get her rain-soaked hair out of her eyes as she piloted the hover-car. The headlights were useless in the downpour and it was only the frequent flashes of lightning that let her know they were going in the right direction. Not that the landmarks were clear in those brief flashes; all she could see were the rolling seas beneath and the occasional bump on the horizon denoting an island that gave her their direction as the hover-car's navigation had been damaged in their escape.

"Shego, I think we should go back."

Shego heard the anxiety in Drakken's voice, but she didn't dare take her eyes away from forward for fear of losing their direction.

"We're almost there. Look," she pointed to the right as lightning flashed again. "That's the lair."

At least, she thought it was the lair. But the hover-car kept seeming to drift to the left despite her efforts to bring it right. The winds were the worst she had ever flown the craft in, and the rain was as harsh as hailstones on her cheeks. She had to keep her eyes squinted just so she could see through the deluge.

"I don't see it."

"Well it's there. If you would just build a roof for this thing like I've been telling you."

"We still couldn't see through this storm."

Shego silently agreed. She remembered hearing about a potential hurricane on the news several days before their attempted theft at the observatory. But she'd been on a very sunny beach in Florida at the time so hadn't really paid attention to the forecast.

The next flash of lightning was followed by a roar of thunder, very different from the sound of the almost deafening white noise of the rain. Drakken yelped and grabbed her arm, and she turned and shoved at him with both hands as his fingers dug harshly into her flesh.

"Let go!"

He complied with an anxious whimper, and Shego quickly grabbed the steering controls again. The next burst of lightning revealed the rising tower directly in front of them and much closer than she had seen in the last flash. Shego felt a twinge of uncertainty for the first time as she accelerated toward their safe haven.

"Shego what is that?" Drakken asked.

"The lair," she said. "See? We're almost there."

"No it's not! The lair is over there!"

He pointed off to the right where Shego had pointed before. She wiped the rain from her eyes and squinted into the darkness. When lightning flashed again she saw the familiar and still very distant silhouette.

"What _is_ that? We're going to crash! Shego!"

She looked back at what was now clearly nothing but rocks rising up out of the sea. But not in time to avoid what Drakken was shouting about even when he reached over and yanked the controls to the right at the same time she did.

The harsh maneuver saved them from a direct collision, but instead the hover-car glanced off of the rocks and spun out of control down to the water's surface. The impact with the water felt as if they _had_ hit the rocks directly, and Shego felt something sharp dig into her thigh at the same time her elbow slammed hard into the side of the hover-car. And then she was in the water.

Trying to move her left arm was like trying to bend metal, except with pain. She had enough awareness to hold her breath as she kicked and used her right arm to swim up to the surface, though her thigh stung as salt got into the fresh wound she had somehow acquired. When her face broke through she almost wasn't sure for a moment due to the pouring rain almost blending with the splash of the waves on her face.

She gasped in a breath and then blinked as she looked around. It took another lightning flash to reveal the hulk of the hover-car half-submerged in the darkness. Her chin fell below the water's surface as her left arm was still useless, and she held her breath again. She turned and saw behind her the rocks that had caused their crash.

_'You caused the crash... Drakken!'_

Panic caused heat to surge through her veins as she cast her eyes around in a circle again. But all she saw was the darkness. She gasped in another breath and tried to shout Drakken's name, but she got a mouthful of sea water as a reward. She coughed as the water filled her lungs and she turned toward the rocks. She forced her left arm above her head to swim and the pain was like a fire in her bones. But she could worry about her arm once her life was in less danger.

Thankfully the wind was in her favor, but she found herself faced with a new problem as she had to be careful to avoid being slammed against the rocks by the waves. Nature's strength defeated her in the end as her body was knocked against the large outcropping like a rag doll. She felt the rough surface leave further scrapes in her skin from her face down to her ankles, the fresh wounds being immediately invaded by the sting of the salt water. But she reached out in the dark and clung for dear life to anything she could hold onto.

Her left arm gave out once, but she grit her teeth and grabbed onto the rocks again. She began feeling with her feet for something to step on, her knees bumping painfully into the jagged surfaces. But she found some footholds and began to climb. The rain continued to beat down on her, but she barely noticed the difference as she shivered in the wind. Her left arm seemed to be working fine, but every movement caused stabs of pain radiating from her elbow down to her fingers and up to her shoulder.

Finally, she made it out of the water, and clinging to the rock she moved on her bleeding, stinging knees around to the side that put her mostly out of the wind. She took several grateful breaths and leaned her cheek against the rough, sea-battered stone. And then she gathered her strength and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Drakken!"

Her voice may as well have been a whisper for the overpowering wail of the wind and the near-constant rumbling of the thunder. But it didn't deter her, and she continued shouting for him as she squinted back in the direction she thought the hover-car had sunk. But she wasn't even sure of that anymore.

Her only answer was the rain and the crash of the waves. The lightning showed no remnants of the hover-car in the dark waters. Only the distant separation of the black sea from the equally black clouds overhead at the horizon by the gray sky, and the now obvious spike of their island lair at a distance that would be impossible to swim to.

She couldn't see any other place Drakken might have escaped to as she peered through the storm. So she continued to shout his name. She kept squinting through the rain into the darkness, and she took in more of her surroundings with each lightning flash. The roll of the waves was higher than she had ever seen, creating an illusion of calm even though she painfully knew otherwise. And in every direction the sky that had minutes before been an obvious strip of gray between the sea and clouds was vanishing.

The wind suddenly seemed to change direction, and Shego stopped shouting as she clung to the rock to keep her balance. A wave splashed up against her, hitting her scrapes and cuts with salt water again. The wind seemed to suddenly have its own life as it pushed her one direction and moment later back in another.

She closed her eyes as she struggled to hold on, while wave after wave suddenly beat against her. A cold hopelessness began to clench at her chest as she felt that the only part of her that existed was her pained fingers clinging to the rocks. But it wasn't enough to make her let go. She held on for what felt like ages until the crash of the waves wasn't as harsh and the wind seemed to finally choose a single direction.

Shego blinked as she realized...the rain had suddenly stopped. She stared at the rough, black rock in front of her when the lightning flashed again. And while the thunder still rumbled, everything suddenly seemed calmer.

She let go her death-grip on the rock and turned her face back into the wind. The lightning revealed that the waves were indeed calmer, and without the rain she was able to see now that the rock outcropping she was attempting to shelter on was actually very large, about the width of ten hover-cars and the length of almost twenty from what she could make out in the dark. The tower of rock that had deceived her was at least five stories high and three hover-cars wide, and her precarious perch against the tower's base was at least two stories above the sea-level. It was more of a small island than an outcropping.

Painfully, she stood up and leaned against the rock. For the first time since the crash she felt able to breathe, and she tried looking around again in the dark. The lightning flashes no longer revealed the horizon, but instead just a wall of gray. Shego's brow furrowed. She looked up...and then she gasped.

There was indeed a gray wall, rising far higher than a jet could ever fly and its top curved. Above the wall was a clear night sky with stars. Shego's jaw hung open as she slowly turned and realized that the wall formed an almost perfect circle around her, and as the lightning continued to flash she saw counter-clockwise motion in the gray. She continued staring up at the circle that reached the stars with awe, and understanding arrived that she was encased in an almost thirty-mile wall of clouds.

_'I'm in the eye of a hurricane...'_

A shrill cry suddenly reached her ears above the roll of the thunder. She dropped her gaze to the dark sea and peered around frantically. The lightning didn't reveal anything but the waves.

"Drakken!" she shouted.

The cry sounded again, long and pained. It was familiar...and it wasn't. But it had to be him.

"Drakken!" she screamed louder, her voice carrying now that the wind had died down to a manageable level. She took a few cautious steps over the wet rock to get a better look.

She scanned the sea carefully from left to right as the lightning continued illuminating the dark surface of the waters. And then she froze as her eyes spotted an almost sparkle of a blue hand... A face... She picked her way toward the edge of the rock.

"Drakken!"

She spotted the very clear blue again, and she knelt down as she tried to measure the distance. How he had survived was a mystery...but she wasn't going to argue whatever power had chosen to spare him.

"Drakken! Over here!"

"Help..." The word came out in a weak, fearful wail. His voice sounded strange, as if it wasn't his.

"The rock is over here!" she called loudly.

"Help me..." His voice sounded weaker that time.

Shego's heart pounded as she peered desperately into the dark for another glimpse of him. How had he managed to stay alive in the water for so long?

A decision was easily made as she saw another almost-sparkling flash of a blue hand that vanished beneath the dark waves. She stood back up and took a graceless leap into the churning sea. He _shouldn't_ have survived... He probably didn't have any strength left to swim to the rock. But she could stand the sting of the salt water, and her arm was starting to feel better.

She swam in the direction she had heard his voice, fighting the current and the pain of her injuries. The lightning lit her way, but there were no more glimpses of blue.

"Drakken?" she called over the waves.

"Here..."

She saw another flash of blue, suddenly closer than she had expected, but it vanished beneath the waves. She took a deep breath and dove down and ignited her hands for light.

Her breath suddenly came out in an astonished gasp, leaving her lungs in a stream of large bubbles. She saw blue, but it wasn't Drakken. There were scales and teeth and dark eyes that spoke menace and death as they were reflected in the green of her glow. The teeth and something else suddenly came toward her face, and she fired her glow powerfully at the sea creature. A shrill sound that reminded her of something between a dolphin and a whale reached her ears through the water, and she kicked the creature powerfully with both legs as she moved back toward the surface.

She took a breath and swam as fast as her injured limbs would carry her back to the rock.

_'What was that!?'_

Her mind raced for an answer. It was the wrong shape for a shark, but it had definitely had scales. She must have been so desperate to find Drakken that her mind had played a trick on her, because if she didn't know better she would have thought that the creature looked almost...human.

She climbed hurriedly onto the rock and left her hands aglow as she looked out over the rolling waves.

"Drakken?" she called.

The only response was the thunder.

She pursed her lips and fought against tears that threatened to build in her eyes. She had seen his hand... She was sure of it.

Suddenly a shape appeared out of the water near the edge of the outcropping, right below her feet. She scrambled to her feet, almost falling on the wet rock, and took several steps back. She burned her hands brighter and her eyes widened at what had emerged from the water.

It was a face. A human face, with eyes and nose and mouth and ears in all the right places. But the skin reflected pale blue in the light of her glow and seemed to sparkle. As she looked closer she realized the sparkle was scales. Two arms emerged from the water, sparkling the same blue hue as the scales were reflected in the green light, and the person's hands— _'Person?'—_ grabbed the rock and pushed themselves halfway out of the water to lean on their elbows against the outcrop.

Shego took another step back but burned her hands brighter. The woman—for the revealed figure was decidedly female—had dark blue-gray hair that flowed down her back and vanished beneath the waves. Shego could only see the person down to her waist, but a fear was gripping her chest as an impossible suspicion was rising in her mind.

The woman's face was extremely curious, but Shego recognized a fury deep in her eyes.

"What are you?"

Shego blinked in surprise at the question. But she had to pause before answering, not just for the absurdity of being asked about herself by some sort of human-fish but due to the impossibly sweet and melodic lilt of the woman's voice. She had never heard a voice so beautiful. And she noticed voices, for her own was nothing that anyone would ever call alluring.

"What are _you?"_ Shego said in accusation.

The woman's curiosity changed to a piercing look that made Shego feel even more wary. She took a step back as the woman slowly ran her tongue between her lips and then gave her a flirty smile.

"I'm lonely. I didn't think anyone else was out here."

Shego found herself struck again by the musical sound to the woman's voice. She leaned forward slightly to study her face. She appeared about her age, or slightly younger. She had a heart-shaped face and large eyes, and very full lips that appeared almost teal under her glow.

"I'm not supposed to be out here," Shego said, taking another step back as the woman pushed herself further up onto the rock. She couldn't see anymore of her from the defensive position she'd put herself in, but she had a suspicion that the very human figure the woman had above her waist likely changed into a fish's tail below.

 _'Mermaids aren't real,'_ she reminded herself. But the blue, scaly evidence in front of her was a very compelling argument to the contrary.

"Why are you out here?"

Shego wanted to get a closer look, to see if there really was a fish's tail below the water's surface. But the alarms in her head rang louder and she took another step back.

"My ship crashed."

"I didn't see a shipwreck."

Shego didn't know why she was talking to the...person. But there was nothing else to do.

"It wasn't a ship, it was a...flying ship," she finished, unsure how to explain the hover-car.

"A steel bird?" the woman asked in her musical voice.

"Something like that... Are you a mermaid?" Shego was surprised at herself for blurting out the question.

The woman's flirty smile returned. "You would like that, wouldn't you."

Shego glared suspiciously. "What makes you think that?"

"Because if I am, I can swim down to your wreck and tell you what happened to the one you lost."

Shego's eyes widened. She felt a lump come to her throat. How did the...the person, know about Drakken?

_'Because you've been shouting his name for at least half an hour...'_

Shego tried to think of every piece of mythology she had ever heard about mermaids. She had never cared about such things, even as a child. She just knew they were supposed to lure sailors to their deaths with a song, or something like that...

She realized with sudden fear that the mermaid's blue hand had been the one she'd seen in the water. It had been her voice calling for help, and thus why Drakken's voice had sounded so strange. It had also been the mermaid's teeth coming at her when she had lit her hands beneath the water.

"You wouldn't help me..."

The mermaid folded her arms on the rock and lay her head sideways atop them, looking very sweet and innocent. But Shego still saw the fury behind her eyes. She couldn't be fooled by the creature's act; she was too intimately experienced with deception.

"What makes you say that?"

Shego shook her head. "It doesn't matter... He's gone."

She carefully climbed back up to the safety of the rock tower and sat down against it and looked up at the flashing sky. The eye-wall of the hurricane was still distant, though some low clouds were condensing within the clear center and blocking her view of some of the stars. She wondered how long it would be until the peace ended, and she would be left clinging to the rock for her life again.

She was also curious to find out if the mermaid would try to attack her during the storm. It hadn't attacked before... Maybe it hadn't found her yet? She was sure it was her constant shouting for Drakken that had alerted it to her presence.

She let her glow go out and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Tears burned her eyes again as she stared through the gray clouds at the stars.

Had Drakken tried to make it to the rock? Had he even known which direction to swim? Or he might have...died in the hover-car, trapped by his seatbelt.

Shego rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand and sniffled. It was her fault. She had let the storm get the better of her. He had even tried to warn her before the crash. And he was the one who paid the price.

Of course, she had no guarantee of survival herself. There was no telling how long the hurricane would last. And now she had at least one ocean predator after her. A smart predator that was trying to out-think her.

It was annoying.

Shego frowned and stood back up, igniting her hands. She hadn't been able to see the mermaid while sitting down, but it was still there, smiling its curious but clever smile at her. Shego stepped closer to the edge of the rock than she felt was safe, but still far out of reach of the creature.

"Would you like to know what happened to the one you lost?" the mermaid asked.

Shego's brow furrowed. She did want to know... But there was no guarantee that the creature would tell the truth. In fact...it was entirely possible that the mermaid had gotten to Drakken in the storm, and had been the reason for his end.

"No," she said with a scowl.

She fired at the mermaid and it flung itself off of the rock with that feral cry that reminded her of something between a dolphin and a whale. Its scales sparkled again in the light of her glow, and Shego saw for the first time the murderous fury on full display as the creature retreated far from the rock, baring its teeth at her. But it didn't leave.

Shego turned in the direction she knew the lair lie and waited for lightning to reveal it. When it did, now that the skies had calmed she could see it wasn't nearly as far as she had thought. Maybe only five miles away. It was much too far to swim...

She looked back at the mermaid that was still staring at her with a fury and hunger. She mentally sighed. It may have a beautiful human voice and appearance, but it was all predator. The brief idea she'd had of convincing it to help her get home evaporated.

All she could do was wait for daylight and clear skies. Then she could get a better idea of her situation. Maybe there were other rocks nearby. And with the rain from the hurricane, at least she wouldn't die of thirst.

She sighed and went back to the tower to sit. She should conserve her energy for holding on when the other side of the eye wall hit. And she wanted to stay as far away from the murderous mermaid as possible.

* * *

The peace hadn't lasted much longer, and Shego spent most of the dark night clinging to the rocks and worrying about whether or not mermaids could go on land. Because every time she opened her eyes and looked around, she would spot it lurking not too far from the edge of her precarious haven.

It was a fair distraction from thinking about Drakken.

When day came it was just as bad, with gray clouds covering the sky in all directions and the wind seeming unable to make up its mind again as to which way it should blow. However with the little bit of sunlight that did bleed through, she was able to see that hers was not the only rocky outcropping in that region of ocean. There were in fact several within about a quarter-mile square of where she was, with one even rising so high it had green grass growing on top of it. But most were small and some even became submerged if a large enough wave passed by and washed over them. None compared to the massive outcrop she had sheltered on, with its deceptive tower rising high into the sky. She wondered why in all her years living at the lair, she had never spotted the look-alike tower before.

The rain still came in a deluge, and the hopelessness of the situation impressed itself more strongly on her mind. The weather gave her drinking water, but prevented any attempt at swimming to the lair she may have talked herself into. Which was for the best, really, as she knew that even attempting to swim a mile would be futile for her. The crash had effectively trapped her until a ship came by.

Unfortunately however, part of the advantage of the lair's location was that no one ever came by.

There was also the continued threat of the mermaid. Shego was interested to see in the daylight that it looked less fish-like, and more human. The scales that had been so obvious at night would have been invisible if she hadn't known they were already there, and the creature's human 'skin' was so pale it was almost white. The hair that had looked blue at night now looked black, and the large eyes were the most interesting of all, seeming to change color between teal and silver depending on which way she was facing.

The mermaid was back to looking curious with fury buried deep behind its eyes. With no other ideas, Shego began wondering again if she could somehow use the creature to get back to the lair.

Several hours into the daylight the wind calmed to an acceptable level and the rain became less heavy. The mermaid was still there, and Shego couldn't help herself but engage it in conversation.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" she called out. Her voice was hoarse and weaker than she had expected.

The mermaid swam a little closer. "What are you?"

Shego remembered the question the creature had posed from the night before. Why would it wonder about her identity?

"I'm a human. What else would I be?"

The mermaid came closer to the rock and shook her head. "Your hands control fire."

"Oh. Yeah." It suddenly occurred to her that she may have an advantage on the creature thinking she was something other than human, and something the mythical creature couldn't really overpower. She thought quickly. "I come from the stars."

The mermaid looked confused, and Shego pointed up. "The lights in the sky at night. That's where I'm from."

For the first time, the fury vanished from the mermaid's eyes. "People can come from there?"

Shego nodded. "Yes." She knew only too well...

The mermaid looked as if she wasn't sure she believed Shego, and she took the chance to try to confirm the creature's identity.

"You're a mermaid, right? Jump out of the water so I can see your tail."

The creature smiled and moved away from the rock and then vanished beneath the dark surface of the water. A few moments later it flew high out of the water, its lithe form arcing a good thirty feet above the waves.

Its very clear fish tail was a sparkling silvery blue, like its human skin had appeared in the night. Its tail fin was translucent and the same color. Shego wondered if she wasn't really just losing her mind, or perhaps she had died in the crash and was in some kind of hell... Aliens were more believable than mythical creatures, considering her own powers came from a comet. Not to mention she'd had the misfortune of meeting an alien. But she supposed mythical human-like creatures weren't the least believable thing in the world.

Most importantly, she saw that the creature had the power to jump as high as her perch against the tower. It could easily come out of the water and attack her. She wondered why it hadn't. Perhaps it was weaker on land? Could mermaids assume a human form like in children's stories she remembered?

The mermaid resurfaced and swam closer to the rock.

"So...where do you come from? Are there more of you?" Shego asked quickly. She wanted to keep the upper hand as she thought of various other options besides gaining the friendship of the dangerous creature.

The mermaid smiled her flirty smile. "We live in the deep. There are many of us."

Shego felt there was a threat behind the creature's words, as if it knew that Shego wasn't simply curious.

"And you eat...people."

The mermaid moved away from the rock, her smile becoming enigmatic as she did a little spin in the water and then came back to rest her forearms against the rock as she had during the night. Shego wiped the rain from her eyes as she stared at the thing. It was definitely not going to become a friend.

So what else could she do with it?

She had no idea. And with that troubling thought she let the conversation die as she huddled against the rock while the cool rain continued to beat down on her. She was exhausted. And she could see now she had rips and tears all over her suit, the most notable being a clean slice in her thigh where blood had flowed the night before. It was scabbing, which told her it wasn't too serious. She also knew she had scrapes beneath her clothing due to the rock, from the pain she felt from head to toe.

She wanted to sleep, and knew that it was actually safer to do so under the cloud cover as opposed to whenever the storm passed and the sun came out. The sun wasn't as forgiving. However, she couldn't turn her back on the treacherous mermaid. And she wasn't ready to just drive it off yet if there was any possible way she could use the creature to her advantage.

"What do you want?" she called to it after awhile.

Its only response was the same enigmatic and curious smile. And the fury was back behind its eyes.

 _'To eat me...'_ Shego shuddered and leaned against the rock. She tried to let her aching body relax under the drive of the rain as she stared at the creature.

* * *

The hurricane passed with surprising speed, and it was only midday when the sun finally broke through the clouds and began drying her clothes and the rock. Shego stared at the great blue wall of cloud that extended across the horizon and up until it merged into the white and by appearances harmless pillows of cloud over her head. The blue was the departing hurricane, and she had a new respect for the storms that she had only ever endured from inside the lair and paid no mind to in the past.

She was grateful to be dry, but the absence of drinking water would eventually be a problem. The mermaid was still there, and its almost-white skin sparkled in the sun. Shego knew it was due to the the scales that were somehow less obvious in the day.

As she stared at the creature that seemed set on waiting until she either died of natural causes or gave up, she realized her stomach was starting to hurt.

"I could bring you a meal," the mermaid almost sang.

Shego's eyes widened. _'Can it read my mind...?'_

"Like what?" she asked. She regretted the words instantly. The creature would probably give her something poisoned.

"Fish."

Shego shifted uncomfortably on the rock. "Maybe later..."

The sun was warming her to an uncomfortable temperature, and after a moment of thought she carefully stood and began picking her way around to the other side of the tower to be in its shade. The side of the outcrop she was on had a large and relatively passable surface. She had no idea what the other side looked like.

She carefully stepped over the jagged, uneven surface, being sure of her handholds on the tower before every step. She couldn't risk falling in. She knew the elements had weakened her, and she wasn't keen on being face to face with the mermaid's teeth again.

The other side of the tower and outcrop had much steeper ledges and far less flat rock to walk on. Shego found the safest spot she could in the shade, still far from the water's edge, and leaned gratefully into the cooler rock on that side of the tower. She watched as the mermaid swam around the perimeter of rock and floated slowly closer to the edge. The steepness of the rock on that side brought the mermaid much closer than Shego was comfortable with, but she didn't feel like moving again. The effort had reminded her of the many scrapes and bruises she had, and the dull ache in her left elbow.

The mermaid swam right to the edge of the rock and pushed herself up on her arms, revealing the entirety of her human torso. Her dark hair still hung beneath the waves, and Shego wondered idly if it was longer than hers. When she brought her eyes back to the mermaid's face, the creature had adopted a sultry, seductive expression. Shego found the mermaid's tactics and patience for acquiring a free meal were only evidence of just how non-human she actually was.

"Go away," Shego said.

The mermaid smiled and cocked her head to the side.

"You look tired. Would you like me to sing you a lullaby?"

"If you do, I'll hurt you."

The mermaid frowned and swam a few feet back from the rock, the fury behind her eyes more apparent. But then she smiled again. Her lips parted and she began to sing, giving Shego a knowing look.

Shego's eyes widened. She had thought the mermaid's speaking voice was beautiful. But the singing was entrancing. There were no words, and it was a clear, slow melody that rose above the crash of the waves. Suddenly the mermaid's eyes seemed kinder. Maybe, she really would help her get back to the lair...

Shego sat forward on the rock and stared at the creature as she reached a hand out to her and beckoned her gently. Shego blinked and shook her head. She lifted her eyes away from the water and up to the cloud-filled sky. Why was she compelled to go toward that song?

Just then a new sound was carried on the wind and reached her ears. It was faint, distant, and familiar, and had absolutely nothing to do with the sea.

"Shego!"

Shego stumbled to her feet in shock, her eyes scanning the waters frantically. It was so faint... But it was Drakken's voice.

As her gaze darted back and forth over the waves, her eyes fell on the mermaid again. She had stopped singing and her expression was sweet and enticing. Shego grit her teeth and shook her head. She brought her gaze up, beyond the mermaid...and saw a tiny but distinct speck of blue on a very small outcropping, about two football fields' length away.

She squinted at the speck. It moved. She drew a massive breath.

"Drakken!" she shouted so loud that her voice cracked.

The wind was not in her favor. If it was really him, she doubted he had heard her. But the tiny blue speck on the black rock continued to move.

"Shego!"

It was faint. But she was sure. She leaned back against the tower as joy filled her with a warmth more rejuvenating than the sunlight. She hadn't allowed herself to grieve him yet, focusing all of her energy on her own survival. But knowing now that he was alive brought all of her emotion forward and she suddenly found tears stinging her eyes.

She wiped them with her gloved fingers and took a moment to gather herself. She couldn't afford to lose any precious moisture through tears.

"Drakken!" she shouted again, just wanting him to know that she heard him.

Shego noticed movement below the spot she had fixed her hurting eyes on and suddenly remembered the threat. The mermaid was frowning, and Shego watched as the creature looked between her and the outcrop where Drakken was sheltering.

_'Oh no...'_

The mermaid smirked viciously and dove away. The last Shego saw of her was her silvery blue fin vanishing as she headed toward Drakken's rock.

"Oh no..."

Shego took a deep breath and then dove off of the rock and began swimming. The sea waters were warm, but the waves were choppy and immediately began pushing her away from her destination and away from her own rock. She mentally cursed herself for possibly ending her life then and there if she couldn't get back to some safe haven. But would Drakken have the awareness to recognize the mermaid's almost magical deceptions? Or worse, would he simply fall for the wiles of a beautiful woman?

No, she couldn't just sit comfortable on her rock and watch him die. She fought against the pain of her wounds and the ache in her elbow and pressed on, swimming against the current toward the bright speck of blue.

Before long every stroke of her arms began to burn, and her lungs felt like they were on fire as she struggled to keep her breath. Each time she looked up it seemed like she was making negative progress toward her goal. But the blue speck of Drakken's face still alive on the rock was enough motivation to keep her going. And after awhile she realized she was in fact making progress.

When she had crossed about half the distance she could see that Drakken was standing on his very small outcropping, but he had lost his lab coat somewhere along the way. She assumed he had taken it off when he'd first hit the water after the crash, as it would have made swimming almost impossible. She looked back at the tower of her rock, which was definitely what they had crashed into during the hurricane. She could also see that where she had spent the night was completely out of Drakken's sight, not that he could have spotted her through the storm.

"Shego!"

She turned back and saw Drakken stepping down the side of his steep rock toward the water. He was reaching an arm out...not toward her. Shego strained her eyes and saw the familiar bobbing of the mermaid's dark head about ten yards away from the rock. She took deep breath into her burning lungs and strained forward.

The mermaid was doing...something, to make Drakken think it was her. Drakken continued reaching toward it, but the mermaid wasn't moving any closer. Shego realized through her furious swim that the mermaid was trying to lure Drakken to jump into the water to save 'her;' the exact same trick it had used on her the night before.

She was only about fifty yards from the rock now and could make out the perplexity on Drakken's face. Maybe the mermaid's tricks weren't as effective in the daylight. But then Drakken sat down on the rock and started removing his boots. Part of her brain was scolding him for not taking his boots off when he'd discarded his coat, but the thought vanished as she realized she wasn't going to reach him in time to save him. He would jump in to save _her_ and find himself in the mermaid's clutches. He probably wouldn't even know what happened to him before it was too late.

Shego's limbs were starting to feel like rubber, and it was getting harder to get them to obey commands. But she needed them to follow at least one more. She helicoptered her legs to support her and lifted her arms high out of the water. She ignited her hands and took careful aim. The green blast sailed over the surface of the waves and directly impacted the back of the mermaid's head.

A fierce cry left the siren's lips before she turned to search for Shego. When her eyes found her she glared with murderous anger.

_'Uh oh...'_

Drakken was looking in confusion between the mermaid and the distant bob of Shego in the water. She hoped it was enough to get him to figure out the danger he was in and stay out of the water.

Shego couldn't see the creature's face, but it suddenly vanished in a flash of rapid movement she hadn't known it was capable of. A sinking dread came over her as she realized the mermaid was after her again. And now she had no rock to hide on.

With nothing else to do, she took a breath and kept swimming toward Drakken's rock. But after only a few strokes she held her breath and let herself sink beneath the waves with her eyes open. The salt stung them, but sure enough she just barely glimpsed a dark shape moving quickly toward her from below. She lit her hands and fired almost blindly as the dark shape raced toward her. The green blast illuminated the snarling mermaid but missed its target as the lithe creature dodged her attack, and the glowing blast dissipated even more rapidly than it did in air.

Shego kept her hands lit beneath the water—something she rarely did and found took a great deal of effort—and fired at the creature again as it attempted to come at her from behind. Her lungs burning, she kicked up to the surface and took a few gasping breaths before diving down again. She was sure the mermaid that had waited all night and half the day wouldn't give up that easily.

The next time, the mermaid came straight at her from just beneath the surface of the water faster than she'd ever seen anything aquatic move. She held her hands up in front of her defensively and the mermaid halted its approach. Shego fired and the mermaid went straight down and vanished. The blast Shego fired after it disappeared before even nearing the target. Shego realized with dismay that she was limited to close-range attacks under the water. That, along with the disadvantage of almost no sight and her weary lungs and limbs starting to give out on her meant the battle may be much shorter than she was usually able to endure. And by shorter she realized...it would mean her end.

The mermaid didn't return for several seconds, and Shego chanced another swim to the surface and took a few more strokes toward the rock. But the effort was futile as her limbs barely responded and the attempt to stay above the water found her slipping down without enough air. She kicked desperately to push her face through the water once more and tilted her head back to keep her nose and mouth above the surface. After getting a breath that didn't feel nearly deep enough, she let her weight take her down again.

She cast her blurry, stinging gaze around for the telltale shape and didn't see it. She desperately wanted to move in the direction of the rock again, but she was no longer sure where it was. Then suddenly a sound, sweet and melodic, seemed to surround her and pull her further beneath the waves. Something within her wanted to move toward the sound and its welcoming sound, but her mind screamed against it. She looked up and saw the sparkling surface of the water getting farther and farther away.

She looked down and bubbles of air left her lips in a gasp as the mermaid was right in front of her, its blue-gray hair billowing gracefully around its shoulders and the sparkling scales were suddenly revealed on its skin as it grinned at her with victorious menace. In the next moment it lunged, and with glowing hands Shego grabbed its wrists and held off the attack with a strength that must have come only from adrenaline. The mermaid thrust its face forward and Shego leaned away, but it wasn't enough to dodge the creature's sharp teeth as they sank into her chest near her armpit.

Shego tried to intensify her glow and tightened her grip as the mermaid's teeth let go and bit her again harder, the razor-sharp teeth slicing through her suit and her flesh with ease. She kicked repeatedly at the mermaid's tail, but the creature didn't even seem to notice the blows. It was in its natural environment, and Shego was quickly losing strength.

Suddenly a garbled voice sounded through the water. She looked up to see Drakken's frantic face just behind the mermaid as his hands grabbed its upper arms. Shego released it and watched in horror as the mermaid thrashed, tossing Drakken around like a rag doll and dragging him down into the dark depths. Shego kicked after them and fired blast after blast at the creature as Drakken held on for dear life, his teeth gritted as he kicked at the mermaid's powerful tail. He clearly had far more energy than Shego and was doing a much better job of holding the creature back.

Shego fired at the creature's tail multiple times until she damaged the fin. And then with only a slight hesitation she began firing at the mermaid's face, being careful to miss Drakken as he still held tight to its arms. Despite everything, Shego didn't like the idea of killing it. But she knew their lives were forfeit if she didn't use a deadlier force than her usual. So she kept firing.

Finally the mermaid seemed to weaken, and after giving a powerful kick Drakken let it go and he lunged toward the surface. Shego watched as the bleeding creature turned its scowling face toward her before it slowly disappeared down into the depths. She felt a slight relief at its retreat, but she wasn't ready to assume the creature had given up. It may only nurse its wounds and then return.

Shego turned her face toward the shining surface which was much, much too far away. Her lungs felt near to bursting as she stretched her arms up and kicked down to swim up. But the single stroke gave her no forward progress, nor did her next one. The sunlight began turning black around the edges of her eyes and she understood that she was sinking.

She closed her eyes to block out the sight of the sun she realized she wouldn't be reaching, and thought bitterly that the terrifying creature of myth had had the last laugh after all. But then she felt an arm around her chest holding her under her arm and a foot kicked her leg as she was drawn back up toward the light.

_'Drakken...'_

When her face broke the surface, she almost didn't remember how to breathe. And then she coughed some water out of her lungs and opened her eyes just enough to see Drakken's anxious face right next to hers. She dropped her head to rest against his as she brought air into her burning lungs. A few moments later she felt Drakken's foot accidentally kick her again as he tried to swim them back to the small rock he had taken refuge on.

"Shego, help me!" he spluttered as his face dipped beneath the water for a moment. "The current! I can't..."

Shego opened her eyes fully as his head slipped beneath the water again under her weight. She kicked her legs to take some of the pressure off of him and he righted himself, a desperate look in his eyes. Shego didn't have the energy to swim, barely even aware of the existence of her arms. She took a deep breath and tried to force her body back into a float, closing her eyes against the brightness of the sun.

It was enough to both help her regain her breath and a bit of energy, and also eased the burden on Drakken. He kept one arm hooked on one of hers and half-dragged her as he swam them back in the direction of the very small rock. After a minute, Shego started helping by kicking gently to propel her forward. She listened to Drakken's labored breaths with a mixture of gratitude and worry, grateful he was alive but worried that he himself may run out of energy trying to save them both.

"Almost there," Drakken gasped.

Shego gathered her strength and turned over to find they were about ten yards from the sun-lit black rock. She let go of Drakken and tried to swim on her own again. It proved to be a mistake as after only a few strokes she found herself struggling to keep her head above the water. She rolled back over as she spat saltwater out of her mouth and tried to get into another float. She felt Drakken's arm around her chest again and she helped by kicking as he pulled her the remainder of the distance to the rock.

"Climb up," he said as he found one of her hands and then placed it on the jagged surface.

She held on tightly, but her body felt like lead as she tried to push herself up out of the water onto the steep surface. She rested her cheek on the rough rock and focused only on breathing.

"Shego."

Drakken's voice now beckoned her from above, and she peered up to where he was perched on a slightly less-steep part of the small outcrop and was reaching a hand down toward her. She reached a shaking arm up and gripped his hand, and then with Drakken doing most of the work by pulling her she climbed up out of the ocean waters.

Standing on the steep rock, she couldn't keep her balance and stumbled against him. In the next moment he had fallen back with a grunt and she collapsed ungracefully across his lap, her knees hitting the rock hard but her face resting against his chest. She didn't even care. She closed her eyes and relished in the simple gift of breathing air and having solid ground to rest on. Though, she realized after about a minute that she was mostly sitting on his lap.

She opened her eyes and tilted her head back to look up at him. He had his arms hovering just above her as he caught his breath and looked down at her in a mixture of worry and confusion and relief. Seeing him alive and apparently in much better shape than she was broke whatever it was inside of her that had been giving her extra strength. Her eyes closed as her head fell back to his chest again, and she felt that she could be asleep in seconds. The effort of fighting the storm, staying awake all night, swimming the length of two football fields, and then fighting off the mermaid had sapped every ounce of energy she had.

She felt Drakken's hand touch her shoulder cautiously.

"You're bleeding," he said.

She opened her eyes again and shifted just enough to see the disturbing, human mouth-shaped bite marks that closely overlapped next to her armpit on her left breast.

"Long as that thing isn't venomous..." she choked out.

"Was that...what I think it was?" Drakken asked fearfully.

Shego closed her eyes again and saw the awful creature in the blackness of her memory. She opened her eyes.

"Mermaid. Apparently just as real as aliens. Wonder...what's next..." she gasped, her breath rapidly running out.

She felt Drakken shift under her, and self-consciousness flashed through her. She slowly moved to sit more on the rock, but she kept her folded knees atop his lap and moved her head to his shoulder. She heard Drakken clear his throat uncomfortably.

"Did it try to make you think it was me?" she asked.

"Yes... I saw you on that rock over there, but then...you were here in the water. And you were drowning and begging me for help."

"It tried the same thing on me last night. Tried to make me think it was you."

Shego coughed and closed her eyes again. She really wanted to sleep. But Drakken's arm settling gently around her and his hand lightly holding her wrist sent a tiny rush of adrenaline through her and kept sleep away.

"I thought you were dead..." he said quietly, his voice almost lost on the waves crashing against the rocks. "I couldn't find you last night, and...nnh, the hurricane..."

"I called for you," Shego said. "I think that thing heard me."

She felt Drakken turn his head to look at her. "The mermaid?"

Shego kept her eyes closed and nodded. "It was after me all night."

Drakken rested his cheek atop her head. Shego felt the small rush of adrenaline again, though she wasn't sure why. She reasoned with herself that it was just the relief at finding him alive, and surviving the mermaid attack.

"Did you see the eye of the hurricane?" Drakken asked.

"Mhm," Shego said, bringing her hand up to his chest, her fingers clinging to the wet fabric of his black sweater. Why had he worn a sweater?

She heard Drakken clear his throat anxiously and felt his fingers fidget at her wrist for a moment.

"It was amazing!" he said.

"I was being attacked by a mermaid."

"...It was after you all night?" he asked.

Shego yawned and settled her cheek more comfortably against his shoulder. "It kept circling the rocks and trying different ways to get me to trust it... It said it knew what happened to you."

"I hadn't seen it until...just now."

"I know. I thought you were dead, too..."

The blackness behind her eyes was growing deeper, and her body felt even heavier. The bites on her chest stung, and she wondered again if mermaids were venomous. If so, it was doubtful there was any sure treatment.

"Thanks for saving me, Dr. D.," she murmured. "I'm glad you're not dead. Sorry about the crash..."

Drakken's arm tightened around her. She felt the first real sense of peace come over her since the crash. If the mermaid bite was venomous and ended up killing her, at least... At least she'd...

"How are we going to get out of here?"

Drakken's worried voice was the last thing she heard as her mind slipped into a black oblivion.

* * *

Shego dreamt of a beautiful song, calling her into dark waters. It compelled her toward it, but fear raced like ice through her veins with each step she took toward the sound. Something kept telling her it was dangerous and that she had to go back. But the sound was alluring and seemed to pull her against every caution her mind was throwing at her.

"Shego. Shego!"

Drakken's voice and a slight shaking of her frame woke her from sleep. Her head pounded as she blinked in the bright sunlight, and she could still hear a faint song, beautiful and terrifying over the crash of the waves. Somehow she had fallen to lying with her head in Drakken's lap as she slept, and as she pushed herself up a sudden strong dizziness caused her to fall against his chest with a groan.

"There's a plane!"

Shego listened and was able to pick out the familiar sound of the engine far overhead, and she pushed herself away enough for Drakken to get out from under her. She watched as he stood up and started waving his arms wildly. Shego realized that in his black shirt and dark blue pants, he blended in perfectly with the rock and the sea. And there was nothing remarkable about her attire either.

A moment later Drakken seemed to realize the futility and sat back down about a foot away from her, crossing his legs and setting his elbows on his knees to rest his chin in his hands. His eyes were worried, and Shego knew he was thinking as he was that despite surviving the hurricane and the mermaid, they may still die.

"We need a way to signal..." Drakken grumbled to himself.

Shego considered for a moment and then reached down to her leg pouch. Her cell phone was in there. There was no hope of it having survived the storm, but...it was all they had. Drakken watched as she pulled it out and flipped the small phone open, not a scratch on its case or screen. But of course, it was either water damaged or simply dead. Shego tossed the open phone on the rock between them.

Drakken glanced at it with a frown, but then Shego saw his eyes widen. He grabbed the open phone and turned it toward the sky. Shego watched as he turned the screen to catch the sun's light and reflected it upward. Her jaw dropped.

Shego struggled to her feet, leaning against the rock as Drakken began flashing an S.O.S. She searched the sky and finally saw the small plane moving in and out of the white clouds flying toward the distant blue of the hurricane. She watched as Drakken stood with a rare concentration, flashing the sun's light with the phone screen relentlessly.

Shego kept her eyes on the plane, moving farther and farther away... And then it began a turn back toward them. A triumphant smirk came over Drakken's face, and Shego couldn't help mirroring the look a moment later. For all the chaos they got into together, they seemed to have an equal amount of luck in getting out alive.

The plane circled their location, and Shego knew they had been spotted. It was only a matter of time before a ship would be sent to rescue them. And then they would face the new decision of accepting treatment at a hospital and then avoiding arrest. But those were familiar challenges, and ones they knew how to handle together with barely a word exchanged between them.

The thrill of victory she was feeling must have extended to Drakken, because he looked at her over his shoulder with a grin that spoke of taking on the world. She returned the confident look and leaned back against the rock as he continued to signal their location.

"We gonna come back for the hover-car?" she asked after a minute.

"Mmh, no... Let the mermaid have it as a souvenir."

Shego laughed, and a moment later Drakken joined her with a brief, low chuckle as they watched the plane circling overhead.

-FIN-


End file.
